We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice

A term traditionally used in the context of slavery, abolitionism has more recently been used to refer to the abolition of prisons and the entire “criminal justice system” as it is practiced in the US. Kaba and other scholars such as Michelle Alexander (author of The New Jim Crow, published in 2010) draw meaningful parallels between slavery and the carceral state, finding them to be different versions of the same system designed to keep Black people in a subordinate social position and to authorize violence against them, particularly at the hands of the state. Kaba and her fellow activists use the term “abolition” to refer not only to eliminating the entire system of prison and punishment but also to transforming a society that allows such gross injustices to manifest.

One of Kaba’s preeminent forms of activism, a participatory defense campaign involves community action in response to the unjust imprisonment of one of their members. Kaba often specialized in cases where Black women were criminalized for defending themselves against the police or an abusive partner, as well as women criminalized and subjected to especially cruel treatment for minor offenses or merely engaging in sex work. These campaigns are among the most rewarding that Kaba has participated in, even when they do not secure their desired outcome of freeing the person, because they are an especially potent way of bringing communities together in solidarity with one another and in defiance of the state.